The present invention relates to improvements in windshield washer nozzles which, in conjunction with wiper blades, function to clean vehicle windshields or similar window units.
Windshield washers presently used in motor vehicles and the like employ two nozzles, one for each side of the windshield. The nozzles are fed liquid under pressure from a reservoir via some type of pumping arrangement which is operator-initiated for a predetermined time period or until a predetermined volume of liquid is pumped.
Disadvantages of the aforementioned existing system include: the need for two or more nozzles and the appropriate liquid conduits in order to cover both sides of a windshield; the localized area against which the issued jet strikes the windshield, requiring many strokes of the wiper blade, and possibly many actuations of the washer, before mud, salt spray, or similar dirt can be cleared away sufficiently to afford the desired visibility; wear and tear on wiper blades which, because of the localized impact area of the washer spray, are forced to wipe large sections of dry windshield until the wash liquid is sufficiently distributed by the wiper; and the running of the wash liquid downward, for low vehicle speed, and upward, for high vehicle speeds, and out of the wiper blade range before it can be distributed by the wiper blade, thereby wasting considerable amounts of wash liquid.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for washing windshields in which a common nozzle may be utilized to obtain full spray coverage of the windshield.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for washing windshields wherein the wash liquid is so distributed that a single stroke of the blade will provide full visibility for most windshield dirt conditions.
It is another object of the present invention to minimize wear and tear of windshield wiper blades by issuing wash liquid over the entire path of the blade rather than relying on the blade to distribute the wash liquid.
It is still another object of the present invention to distribute windshield wash liquid by means of a nozzle in such a manner as to preclude run-off of the liquid before it can be swept by the wiper blade.